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    #76
    Originally posted by bgleaton View Post
    Does anyone know how to prevent raccoons from getting on top of our protein trough:
    Trap. Shoot in the face. Repeat. It's a constant battle. El gato posted on his thread on how he was preventing it. The same may apply to your feeders.

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      #77
      Quick update:

      Here is the soil report from the field we will be planting this fall:


      Here is a picture of the field:


      We are filling our feeders today (putting out another 2,500lbs, which will put us at around 14,000lbs since Jan. 1st). I will post some pictures of the horn growth on our place once I gather up the memory cards.

      We had to take our 2008 Polaris Ranger into the shop this week because a piece on the rear differential housing broke off. Also, my dad pierced the tractor tire with a shed. There's always something that needs fixing. Fortunately, these are all minor fixes.

      We are trying to decide whether or not we want to pay someone to come in and do the first food plot or not. We have a tractor, but we do not have any implements just yet. What are yalls thoughts on this? We would like to plant a mixture of wheat, rye, oats and maybe some legumes.

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        #78
        "There is always something that needs fixing"
        There is a ton of truth to that amigo.

        I think if you have a few consecutive days that you can work out there- you can rent the equipment you need. Do the research first on the best techniques to plant at this time of year (till vs no till etc) and try to knock it out yourselves. That's my thinking anyway, if you have the means to pay somebody to come knock it all out for you- you can sit back and drink cold beer and watch. Always nice if you can do it that way.

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          #79
          After filling up the feeders today, I calculated that we are averaging around 125lbs of protein feed being eaten per day. Remember, we have just under 400 acres, so that's a lot of feed. I'm sure we are losing some to raccoons, turkeys, etc., but that's still a lot. We filled up our three 1,000lb+ feeders on 5/24/15 and they were all empty today. The cottonseed consumption has slowed, but they are still picking at it and eating little by little.

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            #80
            It's still very green out there. Here are three pictures of the cottonseed feeders:




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              #81
              We saw this buck a ton in 2013-14, but we did not see him last year. We got pictures of him after the 2013-14 season and in great condition, so I hope he is still out there. If he is still out there, he will be around 5 or 6yrs old this year:

              Let me know what you think.

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                #82
                I forgot to say that this picture is from the 2013.

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                  #83
                  Originally posted by bgleaton View Post
                  Quick update:
                  We had to take our 2008 Polaris Ranger into the shop this week because a piece on the rear differential housing broke off. Also, my dad pierced the tractor tire with a shed. There's always something that needs fixing. Fortunately, these are all minor fixes.

                  We are trying to decide whether or not we want to pay someone to come in and do the first food plot or not. We have a tractor, but we do not have any implements just yet. What are yalls thoughts on this? We would like to plant a mixture of wheat, rye, oats and maybe some legumes.
                  I know the feeling about having something to work on. Owning a house is bad enough..but the ranch keeps me super busy all the time. Labor of love, but plenty labor for sure!

                  In regards to your food plot, my first question regarding Menard is do you have enough dirt to grow much other than grass and cactus? The picture looks pretty good, but my experience is that area has a lot of rock in the fields. If you do have ground that can be cultivated, then it might simply be an economics question for the first year. Do you have a neighbor around there that actively plants, or can you find someone to come over and do it? I have never hired that out, so I have no clue how much, or little, it would cost. I am assuming that you have never planted before, so it may be a huge opportunity to watch a seasoned veteran plant the first year, kinda like paying for a tutorial. I started from scratch and had more mistakes than successes at first, but eventually got the hang of things. But, a close friend of mine that spends more time on a tractor than anyone else I know came and helped me early on and I learned more from him in a day than I learned in years. You mentioned in one post that the plot may be around 6 acres, and I can attest that is a lot of area to plant solo on your first attempt, especially with borrowed or rented equipment.

                  Just a few thoughts. I am probably as proud or more proud of my planting as I am about the deer I kill, but it can be some of the most frustrating, time consuming parts too. I wouldn't ever give it up, but if I could go back, I would definitely do some things differently.

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                    #84
                    Originally posted by bgleaton View Post
                    Does anyone know how to prevent raccoons from getting on top of our protein trough:
                    Legal or anyway possible?

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                      #85
                      Looks nice

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                        #86
                        We got 3.15 inches of rain yesterday and last night. This is an insane year for rainfall.

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                          #87
                          Here are a couple of trail cam pictures from early June:






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                            #88

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                              #89
                              Here are some recent trail camera pictures from one of our feeders:






                              We are seeing a lot of good brow tines this year. We also just receive 1.75in of rain last week, which puts us at 21in for the year. This should be a great year.

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                                #90
                                That looks awesome!! Congrats! Keep the pics and updates coming!!

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